A woman begs for money amid passersby. Unemployment in the 17 EU countries that use the euro rose to 11.8% in November, as the number of jobless people in the region rose to 18.8 million, the highest figure since the single currency was founded in 1999.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship lays aground near the port of the Italian island of Giglio. On Jan. 13, 2012, the giant Italian ship ran aground near a Tuscan island and pitched, leaving 32 people dead.

Classical music composer and presidential candidate Vladimir Franz answers journalists' questions after a rehearsal of his opera "War With the Newts" at the State Opera in Prague. The first Czech direct presidential election will be held Friday and Saturday.

Sri Lankan journalists and well wishers light candles in front of a photograph of slain editor Lasantha Wickrematunge in the capital,on the fourth anniversary of his death. International media rights groups criticized Sri Lanka for failing to identify the assassins of Wickrematunge, an anti-establishment editor.

An underprivileged Indian boy puts on a cap while attending a free school in the open on a cold morning. More than 100 people have died of exposure as northern India deals with historically cold temperatures.

Wearing protective clothing, a firefighter is almost surrounded by red hot flames as he protects a property affected by the Dean's Gully fire near the town of Wandandian. No properties have been lost in the Dean's Gully fire, apart from some farm sheds, which continues to burn out of control.

Filipino devotees of the Black Nazarene watch a fire eater performing as they wait for the procession outside the Quiapo church. Devotees from different parishes and provinces are already beginning preparations for the feast of the Black Nazarene, which millions of Filipinos are expected to attend barefoot. The Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark-skinned statue of Jesus Christ brought by a priest from Mexico in 1606 and believed to have miraculous healing powers.

Pictures in the News | January 8, 2013

Tuesday’s Pictures in the News begins in Ireland, where police came under attack for the fifth straight night as unionists protested against the Belfast City Council’s decision to reduce the number of days on which it displays the British flag.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship continues to lay aground near the port of the Italian island of Giglio, where work is ongoing. The giant Italian ship ran aground near a Tuscan island almost one year ago, leaving 32 people dead. Heavy snowfall blanketed Turkey’s commercial hub, Istanbul; and people take pictures near ice-covered flowers during the exhibition “Flowers of the Snow Queen” in Kiev.

Elsewhere, a firefighter is surrounded by flames as he protects a property affected by the Dean’s Gully fire in Australia; Ukrainians sing Christmas carols as they carry decorated stars of Bethlehem during a parade in downtown Lviv; and Sri Lankan journalists light candles in front of a photograph of slain editor Lasantha Wickrematunge in the capital of Colombo on his fourth anniversary of his death.

Add stops in the Philippines, India and the Czech Republic to round out the report.